Anyone’s who visited an Apple Store has seen just how tight a ship Apple runs. Things didn’t get that way without a whole lot of forethought by Apple into how the place runs, and the employee culture behind it. Today we get a glimpse into how Geniuses are formed, thanks to a leaked employee training manual.

Apple is all about maintaining the proper atmosphere to make customers feel comfortable and empathized with. If someone comes in with a negative sentiment about some Apple product, Geniuses attempt to change their opinions with the three Fs: Feel, Felt, and Found. That is, first validate the customer’s feelings, then come back by empathizing through personal sentiment, like, “I felt that way too, until I found out…”

There’s a whole section dedicated to reading body language, empowering Geniuses to size-up customer attitudes at a glance, and tailor their interactions with those customers accordingly.

Apple’s got a big list of words that are either discouraged against, or banned altogether, along with alternate suggestions. The problem isn’t that the iPhone doesn’t “support” Flash or that it’s “incompatible”, it’s that Flash “does not work with” the iPhone. A lot of these rephrasings replace negative with neutral terms, or otherwise seek to use the passive voice to distance Apple from any problems – oh wait, you can’t say “problem” – distance Apple from any “issues”.

It’s not a huge departure from the sort of psychology-heavy methodology that can be found all over the retail world, but it’s still interesting to check out the specific topics Apple feels are most valuable towards running the Apple Stores we know and love.